Mission Healthcare Foundation growing

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Mission Healthcare Foundation generated $6.6 million in new contributions in fiscal 2009, or six percent more than its budgeted goal.

The foundation, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2010, expects to exceed $100 million in total contributions since it was formed, says Bruce D. Thorsen, the foundation’s president and CEO.

And it soon will launch a campaign to raise $15 million for a new $60 million cancer center at Mission that is affiliated with the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In fiscal 2009, the foundation also earned “accredited charity” status from the Wise Giving Alliance of the National Better Business Bureau, and was named “Outstanding Foundation for 2009” by the Western North Carolina chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

The foundation also was ranked no. 1 in a staff satisfaction survey among all departments and entities within the Mission Health System.